“O praise ye the Lord! Praise him upon earth, in tuneful accord, all ye of new birth; praise him who hath brought you his grace from above, praise him who hath taught you to sing of his love.” What a wonderful hymn! In singing it, and in saying Psalm 148, on which it is based, we’ve now heard twice the gracious invitation to use all our voices and our musical instruments to join with the heavenly hosts in praising God. Praise God! Shout it with me, “Praise God, Praise God!”
Did shouting, “Praise God,” feel odd? Do you wonder why we should praise God? Do you wonder why God needs our praise? God doesn’t need our praise, but we need to praise God! We need to praise God, because doing so helps us to focus on God and to remember all the ways in which God has been active in our lives, in our communities, and in creation. Do you want a simple but effective spiritual discipline? At the end of the day, take a few minutes to praise God for all the good things that God has given you during the day. Use Psalm 148 or Canticle 12 in the Book of Common Prayer. Praising God is also a way of thanking God for creating us, for enabling us to be co-creators with God, and for sustaining us through the many ups and downs of our lives. And isn’t praise of God also a form of evangelism? As we praise God for what God has done in our lives, we also encourage other people to see the signs of God’s redemptive presence in their own lives. So, “Praise God!”
Are we the only ones invited to praise God? Our psalm makes it plain that all creation is invited to join in the mighty chorus of praise. All the angels, all the heavenly bodies, and all the manifestations of weather – fire and hail, snow and fog, storms – all are invited to praise God. All earthly creatures, sea creatures, mountains, hills, trees, wild and domestic animals, insects, and birds, all join in praise of their creator. We too join that chorus of praise. All of us: royalty and commoners, young and old, male and female, all of us together can praise God from the depths of our being.
We can shout our praise, as we just did, but how, you might wonder, does the rest of creation praise God? Can animals praise God? Certainly they can. They do so chiefly by being themselves, by living out their lives as they were created to be. Can rocks and trees and stars praise God? Certainly they do, if we would but let them praise God and then listen to their chorus of praise. Perhaps you’ve heard the echoes of this chorus of praise in a beautiful natural scene. When you walk into the mountains, or gaze up into a star-studded sky, glimpse a crystal-blue lake, hear the roaring of ocean waves, or see the myriad points of light bouncing off a snow-covered slope, don’t you slow down? Don’t you look and listen more attentively? Don’t you fell yourself in a “thin place,” a place where God seems especially present? Don’t you stand in silence, in awe, and offer your praise to God for what God has created?
How many of you walk for exercise? The next time you do, take God with you! As you see the lovely trees in flower and leaf at this time of year, as you hear the returning birds, and feel the warm sun on your head, offer your own praises to God. Then join in creation’s thanksgiving for God’s greatness. Let Mary Oliver’s poem, “When I Am Among the Trees,” echo in your head:
When I am among the trees, When I Am Among the Trees
When I am among the trees,
Especially the willows and the honey locust,
Equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
They give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
In which I have goodness, and discernment,
And never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
And call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”
It is simple. But increasingly, creation is unable to praise God, unable to invite us into the joyful chorus. Increasingly, creation groans in agony. Our creeks are filled with acid mine drainage from abandoned mines. We’re destroying our mountain tops and pouring toxic chemicals into our wells and waterways. Do you want to hear a true story of what we have done to God’s good creation? Read a book called Toms River. It tells in horrifying detail how Union Carbide and the chemical company Ciba-Geigy dumped tons of toxic chemicals into the water around Toms River, New Jersey. Polar ice caps are disappearing, and the oceans are rising. In some parts of the world you’re lucky if you can even marvel at a starry sky, so filled with smog is the atmosphere. We’re driven some species to extinction and cruelly abuse others. Our landfills are overflowing. Do you know that we have a new continent? It’s the Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch. It’s an area of about ten million square miles, ten million square miles, filled with plastic, trash, and junk, that is deadly to marine life, and that is making the North Pacific unhealthy and unnavigable.
There are no easy answers to these problems, you might say. And you would be right. When we begin thinking about the causes of environmental degradation and, what is more important, how we might restore the environment to something closer to its original created state, the issues are complex. Other nations have a right to develop their economies as we did ours. None of us is ready – or able – to live off the grid. Everyone needs access to clean water. Yet God has given creation into our hands and commanded us to be responsible stewards. We must be concerned about climate change, endangered species, and trash islands. Otherwise, how will creation rightfully praise its creator?
There are no easy answers, but there are actions we can take. We can keep the Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch from getting any larger, and possibly help it to shrink. We can use our own canvas bags to shop. We can take our own mug to Starbucks. We can recycle as much plastic as we can. We can use glass and other recyclable materials when possible. We can try to buy things that are not encased in plastic. And we can educate ourselves about the impact of our continued use of plastics.
Can we do anything as a parish? You bet we can. This past Monday was Earth Day, and June 5th is World Environment Day. The Church of England has embarked on a national environmental campaign called “Shrinking the Footprint,” inviting parishes to sign up for energy audits. The goal is to enable at least 100 parishes to become more energy efficient. As David Shreeve, the Church of England's national environment adviser, reminds us, "Energy use represents a significant proportion of the Church of England's carbon emissions, and energy reduction will help to meet our commitment to protecting God's creation, as well as leading to cost savings. Our case studies show how simple it is to achieve." The program is available online using simple software. Meanwhile, here at St. Peter’s, and in our homes, we can be scrupulous in recycling all our plastic, cardboard, and other recyclable materials. We can turn off lights and adjust thermostats. We can decrease our use of paper and, if we need to print, use the other side of scrap paper if possible. If you’re electronically connected, join the list of the Episcopal Ecological Network, or the Mission 4/1 Earth of the United Church of Christ, or access either group on Facebook or Twitter.
“O praise ye the Lord! Thanksgiving and song to him be outpoured all ages along! For love in creation, for heaven restored, for grace of salvation, O praise ye the Lord!” May all of us join with angels, all people, and all of creation in praise of God our creator!
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